Police seek Catonsville speed camera vandals

Residents voice frustration, believe cameras are helpful

A speed enforcement camera gets vandalized for a second time near South Rolling and Brook roads.

WBAL-AM\Scott Wykoff

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A speed enforcement camera gets vandalized for a second time near South Rolling and Brook roads.

WBAL-AM\Scott Wykoff

Police in Baltimore County are trying to find the person or people responsible for vandalizing two speed cameras over the weekend.

One was at the intersection of Sulfer Spring Road and Oakland Road in Arbutus and the other was in the 400 block of Rolling Road in Catonsville.

The speed camera, that was temporarily removed in 400 Rolling Road in Catonsville, has now been vandalized twice in the past several months, angering a lot of people who live around the area. They say it helps slow people down and protect pedestrians, many of whom are children.

"There are a lot of children in the community that walk these streets to go to school. I work from home, so I get firsthand experience of seeing a lot of near-misses with children," resident Barbara Schuessler said.

For Schuessler and many other who live along Rolling Road in Catonsville, it was a battle to finally get a speed camera installed in their neighborhood after a number of accidents and close calls. Her neighbor across the street, Marty Haggardy, agreed.

"Just a multitude of crashes and fatalities and bad accidents, people getting carried off in stretchers," Haggardy said.

Sometime over the weekend, police said, someone vandalized the camera, which sits in between two school zones, by spray painting over the lenses. In April, the same camera was destroyed when it was set on fire.

"We do have a speeding issue, and people aren't really happy when they get these tickets in the mail," Schuessler said.

A couple of miles away, at the intersection of Sulphur Spring and Oakland roads in Arbutus, police said another speed camera was targeted with spray paint.

Police told WBAL-TV 11 News they currently have no leads.

Residents said it's a frustrating situation and that despite the reputation the cameras have, they are doing good in their community.

"This is not anything other than public safety, safety of our children, safety of pedestrians, safety of the mailman walking. Ask him. He's almost been hit," Haggardy said.

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